REMEMBER THE FUTURE

"Remember the Future" is a sensational Nektar album, hailed as one of the masterpieces along with "A Tab in the Ocean". The band were at their most creative on this early release with massive epics to revel in and incredible virtuoso performaces throughout. The legions of Nektar fans will swear that this is the album to get hold of along with "Tab" and of course the band always gave reverence to these albums, playing tracks from them on the live stage for decades.

My first taste of Nektar was on the live DVD and the epic 'Remember the Future' track immediately drew me in. The subtle light textures counterbalanced with awesome guitar riffs was like Pink Floyd meets Yes. There is never a dull moment and the epic must stand as one of the all time greats alongside their other masterpiece 'A Tab in the Ocean'. The vocals are gentle and very well sung by Roye Albrighton also fantastic on lead guitar, and mention must be made of the amazing keyboard skills of Allan Freeman. The bass is performed well by Derek Moore, and the ever reliable percussionist Ron Howden keeps things together. The unseen fifth member of the band was Mick Brockett on the psychedelic lights, mentioned on the album sleeve because he had such an integral role to play at the time with the light show that became Nektar's trademark on the live stage.

The epic is cut into many parts but it really blends together as a multi movment suite. Some parts are more memorable than others such as the section at 11 ½ minutes with some terrific keyboard over a driving fuzz guitar riff. The time sigs change many times but there is a main motif that keeps returning with a 4/3/3 signature. It fades and a new part fades up with a spacey atmosphere. The drum triplets come in with organ and a frenetic bassline. This provides a background for some psychedelic phased wah-wah lead work from Albrighton. The band really take off and at 15:20 and it becomes quite absorbing with psychedelic swirls and a pulsing bassline.

Part 2 of the epic on side 2 begins gently with clean guitar and keys. The tempo is upbeat and then a harmony of voices comes in, "I can see you, I can hear you." The section known as 'Questions and Answers' begins with the serene voices and dreamy melodies. Albrighton's voice is more forceful on this song. The song has changed completely here from the beginning. I love the section at 8 minutes where the tempo quickens on 'Tomorrow Never Comes' and the layered harmonies are uplifting. The guitar work her is exemplary really adding strength to the melodies. The lyrics are fairly pedestrian; "Walking down lonely roads, what do I see, won't be long till we come again." This piece of the epic is edited into a single and features as a bonus track called 'Lonely Roads'.

The melody to follow is memorable especially as it features on the "Live Nektar" DVD. The lead break at 12:40 is one of the best on the album. At 13:50 a new song begins with a cool funkadelic rhythm known as 'Let It Grow' and it is a catchy thing worthy of a single and indeed it was a single in edited form, also a bonus track on the CD remaster. It is perhaps the best section on the album. It is nice to listen to all the edited tracks at the end too as bonuses, bringing back the memorable tunes once more in an expurgated friendly format, rather than wading through all the sub sections to find them.

In conclusion, the album was a great magnum opus for Nektar though not as full of masterful music as "A Tab in the Ocean". The band are still renowned for excellent music such as this album and the Nektar trilogy "A Tab In The Ocean", "Journey To The Center Of The Eye", and "Recycled". All are essential Nektar albums and are hailed as prog classics.